What was your profession before you started internet marketing?

I worked in the auto industry .... I was never a teacher, just a genius :p lol jk

But I have a lot of respect for all teacher's I think they would do very well in the internet marketing field.

Obviously teachers love to learn new things it is in their blood, and they enjoy teaching others.

In the internet marketing field your constantly learning new things all the time.

I think teacher's would make excellent internet marketers.


Merry Christmas everyone!

I was a software developer and project manager for 20 years.

Hi Paula,

It seems that being a teacher by profession before being an internet marketer is an advantage. I know af another affiliate marketer who was a teacher also before going full time. Conny Raegan Green. I guess, once a teacher, always a teacher.

Myself, I am still in the work force as a machinist. I enjoy the work because it's interesting and challenging, but it just doesn't give me the life style that I want now.
I plan on devoting more to my internet marketing career this year and going part time as a machinist.

Thanks for asking.

Steve

Building contractor but moonlighted as a programmer for 10+ years.
Then, when the real estate market crashed back in 06/07, I was forced into making programming my sole income earner.

Who did I program for? Internet marketers so I jumped into the fire instead of the frying pan...lol

Rod

I was an IT Technician for this corporation who had over 70 locations nationwide. I miss my job, but i don't miss waking up at 6am every morning to get ready to go to work. I was good at my job. Even won employee of the quarter. But internet marketing is certainly something that is near to my heart. I went full-time last year.

I am still in the IT field , didn't make much in IM but I won't give up on it lol I still have a plan for 2012

Magician, ventriloquist, balloon twister, and church secretary. Not in that order.

Rose

My first profession was internet marketing. I am working it as I get my bachelors degree in sociology. I am going to be in school for the next 10 years if I continue with my original plan out of high school. However, internet marketing will always be around in my life. Besides, something needs to pay the school bills

I sold Televisions and Appliances in a retail store.

I left that job in March of 2005, and I have been full-time IM since.

My first profession was Technical Writer for an Online Magazine, I also use to do it as freelancer. I got my inspiration to be in internet marketing field when I found people are making money from my articles on their blogs. So I quit doing it for others and I started my own tech-blog on which the very first thing that I sold were spywares. It took me more than 7 months to make those sales.

I have just received a degree in Mechanical Engineering but I never decided to go work for others I am happy for what I am doing in internet marketing and when I will get good back up from internet marketing I will definitely utilize what I have learned in Mechanical Engineering

Thanks

I was a Pharmaceutical Scientist doing Research and Development for new medicines.

I started Internet Marketing in 2009 and haven't looked back since.

I was a musician and drove a cab.

I was a high school student. Doing business online is the only job I have every known.

Although I would argue that it is tough to call what I do a job.

Shoes seller at the mall.

IT manager for a major pharmaceutical company.

Funeral Director-Life Insurance Agency-Real Estate Investor.......this is MUCH easier.

I was a student and still a student but now the difference is before jumping into IM i used to go to my school by BUS and now I've my own Sports BIKE

IM'ing Rocks....

Regards
~Sam~

office workers, left that job on January 2008. now 100% human online

Software Analyst.

Still have some technical know-how, but would like to work more on wordpress plugins (internet marketing takes so much time).

Software development is a skill I want to extend further, but this doesn't seem to be the right time.

I work at Blockbuster Video, I quit 4 years ago to become a full time Internet Marketer.

Electrical safety testing on domestic equipment. Then retrained as an IT teacher, teaching adults.

That led to my current offline business of troubleshooting and websites. IM was a sort of natural progression for when offline is quiet. I still do a bit of teaching, but don't run courses any more.

I'm a lanscape gardener the trouble i found is theres not a lot of work during the winter months,thats why i took up internet marketing

I started off as a car mechanic just out of school. Hated working in the freezing cold and all the grease so studied and qualified as a carpenter.

Did that for a bunch of years took a break and did a bunch of meaningless jobs until I studied and qualified in photography. Managed a photolab for a few years took another break and did a bunch more meaningless jobs.

Some of those jobs were fun though such as working in a cinema/movie theatre,(watching free movies all day), night-shift in London's Warner Bros Superstore, (got items for less than half price).

Worked as an estate agent for a while but hated the backstabbing in the office. Eventually went off and studied to be a Fitness Instructor/Personal Trainer.

Qualified and worked in gyms all over London. Also worked as a Massuer and did some sports therapy work.

Fast forward a bit and here I am now sitting on my squished ass trying to hit the big six digits a year in IM.

Andy

Industrial chemist and materials phase behavior specialists for a global chemical company...actually I still am...LOL!

Hell,

I am still working full time as an Inventory Manager and attending college for a bachelors in Information Technology & Security part time.

Hopefully, 2012 will be the year I start to see some profit like you guys. I started IM back in the summer of 2009.

To date, I've made the most money since I started this year at only $400 for the entire year promoting physical products.

I am glad to see you guys have various backgrounds and stuck with IM and made it work. That gives me the motivation I need in the coming year to make my dreams come true too!

Web designer i dont need to outsource it .

I've been a cellphone technician since January 2004 till present, and I'm still active in the field ..... started internet marketing in November 2010 and still will stick with it because I know it will completely overtake my salary in the months to come.... I'm looking to completely stay at home and do this IM thing, but for now it has to overtake my monthly expense by a huge gap before I decide to call the 9 - 5 BYE BYE !

Though I am not completely into IM, but I am an Electrical Engineer with MBA Marketing

I was a government assassin. Just don't talk about it, or try to verify. Top secret stuff you know.

I'm still a student really.

I am in programming field with internet marketing I make some extra bucks. Don't know about teachers but when you are in IT field its very easy to handle these all things.

I am still trying to figure this IM stuff out.

I graduated from a prestigious university back in May 2010, and I was even in a Honor Soceity.

My first job out of university was working as a rent-a-cop at Best Buy. Hated it, then I started doing temp work, which I am still currently doing it.

I am going to cut back the hours at my temp job or maybe even quit it all together so I can focus on IM. The temp job is a dead end job anyways.

I was in black ops before Internet marketing... wait, it was either that or I just used to play video games and think that I was. Same thing, who cares

Hi Paula: Nice and unusual thread! I started out as a bookseller and fiction writer, and lived partly on government arts grants, book reviewing, etc and the earnings of my understanding wife. But finally it was her turn, and I had to go get a big job to pay for the house and baby. Fortunately got into the advertising business as an unqualified copywriter and web content developer--during the dot com boom. And the company went to top five in my city. Man did I learn a lot! And then I became an internet marketing/content development specialist for the Canadian government and made tons of money working part time. But alas, not wise enough to get onto the next gravy train until I lost my contract and landed on the pavement with no network, no prospects and no one spending in a bad economy. But spending so much time on the web..well I had gotten the bug!

BUT: it took me several years and a lot of money to understand IM from the "inside!" And the only reason I'm determined to do it full time as a business is because I have a couple of illnesses that make it hard to get back into the workforce full time. And, besides, I want to create a good enough income using my skills and have time to do my own writing and other passions.

SOME TIPS AND INSPIRATION
You're an experienced warrior: but here's my 2 cents worth:
1) You have an awesome talent that you can leverage! Lee McIntyre, as you may know, started out selling teaching materials on eBay.
2) Look into multi-site/edu blog--it's a natural transition. I know there's a crying need for teaching materials for teachers and students. (Also great for back-links.)
3) Educational affiliate products--with your background, you have instant credibility!

Anyway--KEEP ON KEEPING ON! On of my favorite and most successful models, Matt Furey, was a kung-fu master. He used his focus skills and determination to do amazing stuff very quickly.

IM Economics 101:use what you have + pick up what you need (like here), and find the INTERSECTION between what you end up with....and a hungry market...

Regards,
Chetr. new warrior, and incorrigible "encourager!"

I've done a ton of entrepreneurial enterprises since I was old enough to sell. As for traditional jobs, I've been a retail cashier, supervisor, yarn store employee, and help desk worker. :p

Well, I wasn't a teacher - I was still in high school when I started IM. Now I'm a student and I plan on never having a job

Like most people here, a lot of things. Mechanical Engineering degree, Foreman, Field Engineer (still my favorite), business owner, professional bum, lifelong student, etc.

Marvin

I've been a veterinarian for 20 years, and I still work very part time because I love it. I'm tossing up the idea of becoming a dog trainer, so I can still be involved hands on with animals, but control my own hours. I've trained dogs at clubs for years so know a fair bit about it.

I doubt I'd ever just want to do IM and not work out in the field because I love hanging out with animals.

Nurse. Still.

Ron

I was a youth worker and youth soccer coach.

Those were fun jobs, most of my hours in the youth wing consisted of setting up pool/badminton/dodge ball/PS3/X Box tournaments/game nights for the kids, then me deciding I didn't want to just be the referee and joined in and on most occasions winning the tourny's myself, leaving the kids feeling like they weren't good enough. In hindsight, it's probably best that I'm no longer there.

Great job, just the bosses were twats.

Well, I'm new to the IM profession (have been dinking around at it for years but decided recently it's time to actually make it WORK), so this still is my profession...

I'm a Registered Nurse, Certified Pediatric Nurse Specialist... I work in all areas of pediatrics (ER/Trauma, NICU, PICU, Peds Burn, Peds Surgery, etc.) and am working as a travel nurse over 1800 miles away from my family because of the economy. Being away from my little ones has convinced me I need to really get going with IM because I hate not being home with them!

Right now they are all with me for the holidays, but I'm doing a lot of reading and planning so that when they go home the second week of January, I maximize my time away from them by getting my IM efforts to the point that I only need to work part-time, at most, when my contract ends in April.

I was a bookseller at Barnes & Noble before getting into IM... And it's a good thing I was!

I actually got into the whole concept of internet marketing from a book I was putting away one day. It was called Moonlighting on the Internet by Yanik Silver, and it mentioned something about making an extra paycheck online each month.

That book single-handedly got me into IM, so in a way it's responsible for everything I have today. Before that, I was an art major working full-time retail.

Yeah... I'm happy I found that book

-Tom

I'm a ground stewardess as well as an internet marketer Graduated, got my bachelors management tourism.

Very Interesting Question OP.

I worked in Finance in Manhattan before I decided to get involved with working online. Complete opposites but yet so Similar. There is no greater satisfaction than working hard on your own Idea, Business, or Project and seeing it turn into a Success.

Follow your Dreams!


-Sam

Hmmm..way back when, I think in '96 when I first started I was still in college..then I really started to make GOOD income during law school believe it or not. Once I learned how to market to aol chat rooms, whoa..things started to click

i am student i hope IM will be my future job because i really love doing this

Senior software developer.

I owned my own business with my own brand of Martial arts gear. Started it at the age of 24 till I was 27. Then I ventured into IM and never looked back

Thanks for the nice words about me above, Paula. Most of the good things you think about me are probably not true, but I can put on a good show when I need to... ha, ha.

Yes, I was an inner-city teacher for 14 years in an earlier life. I loved every day of it. But, as any of you know who may also have experience in teaching--there is a lot of bull sh*t that goes along with it I just couldn't take any more.

As for myself, I was in high school (12th grade) before I ran across a truly great teacher (a sad comment on public education in itself). It was an advanced biology class. He did something that no other teacher had ever really done for me: He made me THINK. I'm not talking about memorizing facts and figures. I'm not talking about regurgitating stuff on test days. I'm talking about genuine thinking. I've forgotten most of the biology stuff, but I still carry with me the lessons about life, learning and self improvement he proffered up for our consideration. What a great man!

You guys have fascinating stories and varied backgrounds. Never let others clip your wings. Never let others discourage you from your goals. A little tip: Other people don't really like to see people like you and I become successful in a business such as IM. They don't! No one likes to see others succeed in areas they themselves would like to succeed in. In the images of your success they see reflections of their own failures and that can hurt.

All of you good people above have dreams. What a wonderful thing to have! Give your great ideas wings with which to fly and be prepared to fly high!

--Mike

actually, yes, I was also a teacher... currently a pricing analyst and web site builder.

When I first really got into IM, I was actually working in a bakery. However, it was nowhere near as awesome as the Cake Boss kind of bakery, and I was often quite unhappy. It was my unhappiness with various retail jobs before and after that made me really focus on trying to make IM succeed.

When I started to generate decent income from IM, I realized how happy overcoming the challenges along the way made me. That willingness to take everything head-on is regularly applied to every aspect of my life now so that I truly get the best out of every day.

Why is having a profession exclusive from being an Internet marketing? Wouldn't it make sense to use online marketing to promote your profession?

.

I was a teacher for 6 years and now am in my 7 year as an elementary school principal. I love my job, but am not real happy with the direction that public education is going so I'm learning this IM business as a backup when I finally hit my breaking point : )

Instructional designer, technical writer for a logistics company. I love the company and my 9-5 but I am looking to challenge myself and fulfill a dream of owning my own business.

i have small computer shop..

I was a male stripper doing hens nights.

These days my six pack looks more like a beer keg. lots of sitting down behind this machine. Oh the joy and fun of it. LOL.

Jack of all trades, master or none...I guess you could say entrepreneur?!

Cool thread....I owned gas stations/auto repair shops for 18 years. Started Internet Marketing in 2007, earned $3K my first month and haven't looked back. I would NEVER start another brick and mortar business....

I'm an engineer and Doing both (IM and Engineering job)

I was an accordion player in an all transvestite polka band.






Actually I owned my own construction business, and made stupid jokes..

I was an engineer working for a big construction firm. Thanks to internet marketing, I don't need to do those boring engineering stuff and focus on something that can bring back good money.

I sold candy in high school. Buy boxes at Costco for 10cents a bar and sold them for a dollar each. about 50 bucks a day. After High school i joined the army, 75th ranger reg. 4 years later i went to community college and got a BA in business admin. I Didn't want to work for any one so i started as a business manager at a program for adults with disability's and worked on my IM business after my 9-5 every day and every sat, sun. Now hear i am. Full time IM.

I was a professional grenade tester. I blew off my arms and now i type with my face

OMG, the amount of ****ty jobs I've done is unbelievable! But the last job I had was a bricklayer's mate... That was hard work!

James Scholes

I was a print supervisor at Staples. The job wouldn't have been too bad, except that I was 18 and didn't know the first thing about managing people. Why didn't I know anything? Well:
1) The last supervisor left without teaching me anything, so I knew how to work the printers but knew nothing about the paper work, what I had to do management wise or anything else outside of the printing.
2) I was a porter (janitor that pushes carts) at Stop and Shop beforehand. Didn't get much management experience there.

Oh, I was also the only sober person there. Everyone else constantly smoked pot or came in drunk, which didn't make things any easier. Outside all that, I really liked the job.

I think the majority of folks involved in IM, is to go full time once their earnings are stable enough or exceed their day job

In answer to the OP, I was a professional opportunist.

My first job out of high school was working for a close family friend who has a big IM company in a niche that I was already familiar with. I mostly did the tedious tasks like article writing and marketing, customer service and list management. It was a great learning experience and a huge eye opener to how lucrative the industry can be. I'm still no where near where his company is but without that job I'd probably be at a minimum wage 9-5 right now so I consider myself very blessed.

I was an ordained minister in my youth and then became a successful sports agent before I became a full time marketer. Last year I obtained my certification in Life Coaching and my practice in that area focuses on helping marketers succeed in business.

Lead unix/NT sysadmin for Bell Labs.

The classic McDonalds story applies to me. Worked there for over 5 years, rolled into the IM business and quit my job Nice to see to read the background of you guys.

I was an independent contractor for IT and web development projects. Also was a freelance graphic designer on Elance for quite a few years.

I love reading about what you all did before IM.

It looks as if many of you came from an IT background, but there certainly are many other professions represented as well!

Hopefully, I will soon be joining those of you doing internet marketing full-time!

I was a Software Tester / Test Analyst for over 6 years and I also ran a busy convenience store for 16 years whilst doing my part time job. At least that's what my parents wanted me to believe

JP

Paula,
You might be interested in this thread I posted awhile back. There are some responses from posters who didn't post in this one.

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...before-im.html

Great minds.....

My trade is baker/Pastry cook.

I have owned my own shop for a few years then sold out at a good profit.

To get the money to buy my shop I Sold cars for a few years, After I sold the bakery I became a dealership manger for VW in a small Country town in Queensland Australia.

2009 The car Industry crashed as we could NOT get people Car loans, We could sell cars people just couldn't pay for them.

My boss sold out and I moved On.

I Now work full time at home and I do a few hours at a Local Bottle shop Just so I remember how to talk to people and its a real laugh as well.

Talking to people for a few hours at the bottleshop is like therapy. A Bit of a laugh and a chat with the customers is a great way to unwind in my book.

So is a Six pack, YES I get a discount.

Still love Cooking and baking But I only do that for myself and my friends. My Sausage rolls ROCK man!

Oda

I was a caretaker to people with mental/emotional disabilities. I also spent time along side my husband remodeling our home and selling it for profit. Now I just blog.

Unfortunately I am still working as a mental health counselor. I find that after 20 years I am really, really burned out. I've done a little soul searching and found that I just don't want to do it any more. I'm tired of all the government BS in trying to get paid, having to deal with other "professionals" that don't have any passion or ethics about what they are doing and all the meth-head parents that are placing their children at jeopardy and getting them put into foster care and then not doing what they need to do to get them back. However...

I have found a lot of my own "therapy" in working with images and being creative and I plan to put that to good use over the next year with products I will be developing. I had my best year yet, but not enough to chuck the JOB. I'm looking forward to 2012.

Happy New Year everyone!
Tracy

Full-time student I was a math tutor, case management volunteer and eventual HR intern for a non-profit, and was an HR intern for a research corp for my university...

I haven't made my minimum goal for IM yet, but hopefully I'll get there soon before I graduate in May But in all seriousness, if IM works out for me, I would probably do this:

Go back to that non-profit place I volunteered/interned at and maybe sponsor some type of course to donate for their cause (they basically "provide respite for those who are unsheltered and solutions that transform the lives of homeless and at-risk people")


By the way, thanks OP for starting this thread It is really interesting to see where people started from. It goes to show you don't have to be in a "particular field" or age to be successful in IM

I was raised in the auto body repair business, still have that passion for cars, quit to keep my health intact, later became a full time musician, quit that to keep my sanity and health intact! got an education, later entered the fun and exciting world of the insurance industry 17 yrs lol! quit that to keep my health and sanity intact, umm? seeing a pattern here? It was a living but looking back "hated it" it gave some very good skills that I use today,. I still work a full time job, that I love now,. but also working on that dream of staying home.

I was a window cleaner and perpetual college student before transitioning into full time IM/consulting

Investment Banker at BSC.

I was a Network Engineer for a multi-state computer dealership.

It is interesting how many correlations there really are to IM. You must sell your ideas. You must do the back-end support. You need to have OTO's and upsells. You must create trust and authority in your market.

Internet Marketing was my first profession.. haha. Started when I was 16.

IT technician for both local and state government

Before that I pushed a broom for several years. Now been full time IM since 2008.

I was in transportation industry for 9 years. I had more jobs than my father... Haven't worked a 9-5 in about 3 years.

I used to clean school toilets before IM.

And somehow, I still have to deal with the occasional sh*t.

I been working in real estate full time as a rehabber/flipper since college.

I was and am a student currently and hopefully by the time I am done with school in the next year and a half I can go straight to full-time online

- A first-day student dropout.

- Briefly worked in the order input/processing department at a door panels manufacturer, also packing and dispatching small accessory orders.

- Acquired counterbalance and reach-truck forklift licences and worked in a warehouse very briefly. Actually preferred that to corporate office work. The manual aspects also made me feel healthier and I wasn't such lanky beanstalk. Haha.

- Full-time self-employment doing web hosting, domain registrations, web design, and a few computer-related odds and sods ...

... then I went from that to doing the type of stuff we discuss here.

I was Project manager in banking industry, like CRM projects, BI...

I was a Economics Lecturer.

I quit my job at January 2010 & go full time on eBay + IM

Since then I never look back :-)

I am a CEO of a not for profit providing Health Services in the UK Your always busy when its free

I was a teacher - 3rd grade. Before that, I did some retail work at the mall right out of college - sold shoes and discovered I liked selling and interacting with different people all day. I have been self-employed for 27+ years and I am loving it. I have seen how the internet really changed the whole industry. The world is now a smaller place and we are all more connected thanks to social media, skype and all the other technological advances.

coach, entrepreneur and OFFline marketer. Internet Marketing uses 100% of the principles of Mail Order Marketing...anyone who was successful at that automatically "gets" IM.

If you are the type of teacher that is a lifelong learner, and self-improves you will do well. IF you are the type of teacher that learned once, and teach off that forever, never truly growing - you won't.

You sound like the former though so you should be fine.

ha ha, i wonder why i ever did anything that wasn't online, wish I'd started years ago!

I spent 35 years in sale of investment goods all over the world. Came in contact with "PC's" or the then "Tablets" like TI44 :-) in the mid 80's but never had the time to truly go into Internet Marketing.

Was a full-time college/university student for 5 years.

Quickly found a job as an IT Quality Assurance Analyst with a major pharmaceutical company.

Afterwards, got another job at a post-acquisition IT company.

Quit after being sick of the 9-5 dilemma.

Ran a Forex business for 8 months, until it crashed (still running though).

Now developing a business in IM.

I was a Restaurant Manager for 15 years.

Before starting internet marketing i was satellite engineer working for a news channel. It is most watched news channel of Pakistan and people like to watch the news of this channel. But meanwhile i start working with university friends on internet marketing. Then i searched job in dubai and find this internet marketing job and till now i am working...

Hi,

what a nice topic, i was a government servant in Malaysia government. I work as a social officer. I start internet marketing / blogging as part time and now i do internet marketing fulltime.

How about others? anyone work as government servant?

Looking back.. i need fingers and toes to count off the work i used to do

Focusing on the longer periods of work, the job shortlist looks something like this:

• Bank - backoffice / accounts administration
• Dishwasher - I was 21 and quit the underpaid Bank after 1,5 years to make faster money for my South American adventure trip by doing night-shift dishes
• Warehouse - Direct Marketing - packaging etc.
• Regional Manager - Moved up to manage a delivery region for the same direct marketing co. Client contacts, managing delivery people, etc
• Printing Company - started a printing co with my brother - we didn't know sh*t, leased the sheet printing machinery and did mostly broschures and DM stuff for my former employer. Learned everything from the ground up. Not profitable, finally went bust
• Assistant Photographer - got a job offer from a friend who was doing XXX for the nr.1 mag - great pay, lots of fun, no sleep
• Freelance Photographer - got tired of the sleaze after about 8 months - shared a studio and did promo shooting for Stockholm Water Festival on and off for 3 years
• Telesales - Sold ads for a house-owner federation mag. Ok job, lasted about 1.5 years until the co stopped paying our salary due to mismanagement.
• Web Agency - started a web agency with my nephew and a friend. This was during the Windows 95 era
• General Manager - built and ran a printing co with 7 employees on assignment for a school friend
• Media consultant - self employed as a go-between helping clients organize printed media production from copy to distribution
• Imports - Managed a small grey market GPS import from USA to Scandinavia
• Shopkeeper - Grew the above so much we had to rent a shop in central Stockholm
• Truck Driver - still do it sometimes. Poor pay but it feels like "real work" compared to the IM stuff

To the younger crowd out there i suggest you try your hand at a couple of things but don't just mark off the time. Do everything with 100% dedication and focus. Just passing though is a waste of time. Gaining the experience and knowledge is priceless.

i am just doing my first job and before this job i was a student...

Been in web development since I was 17 and got a part time job working for a large agency things grew from there and over that time I've been involved in 3 very successful start up agencies Its still my main job, this is something of a side line I can focus on in work and dedicate something out to the new juniors starting

Although recent luck with flippla and the likes I may as well stick with my day job lol

I had many many different careers before I started in the internet marketing field.

Some of the more diverse, include a rock singer (failed), telesales rep, refuse collector, and construction worker, not in that order.

I never could settle in them as I always felt it was unfair that someone else got rich off my efforts, now I am focused on proving my self right.

Well I've been manufacturing Electronic PC Boards since the early 70,s. I owned various manufacturing firms int the Ft. Lauderdale area and in the late 80's and early 90's, that industry moved offshore.

I finally started IM about a year ago, got a great teacher, and I've been making money ever since. To me the most important thing that I did was to make sure what I was learning, was done in the correct manor and sequence!

I run a web development company, IM is just part of my biz and something I use to market my clients valuable products to a much broader audience. I have a few of my own products I might release to the IM community but I am not sure if that is what I want to do yet.

Advertising sales. Was in direct mail print, for many years, until the "shift"

I am still a machinist. Love the work but want a better life style.

My first job was as an IT technician, then web developer, and now Network Engineer. I am not so much into IM but considder myself to be of an aspiring entrepreneur

I grew up in construction. It's always good to know a trade but it's hard on the body and doesn't pay like it should. Whoever whines about working behind a desk or computer should go dig a deep hole by hand and then see how they feel about it.

Jim

I was a "Professional student" aka homemaker who has time to take online courses and art courses. It took me 9 years to get two Associate degrees. I have been online since June and still looking for the paychecks to come in. It IS hard!

I was a truck driver, I hauled steel on big-rigs in the heat of summer and in the cold of winter. I'm soooooo Glad to be done with that crap. It's been nearly six year, not I live in the year round sun and live off of my portfolio of websites and product that I sell.

I love this life!

For a moment I've read the title of this thread as "what was your profession before the internet started" -

Well, when it started (1969) I was in my last year of high school.

And when the WWW (world wide web) started (1991) I already had lots of professions behind me... and I've seen a browser first time when my son showed me

The ones where I've spent longer time:

• teacher
• technical translator
• journalist/editor
• publisher/owner of an (offline) ad mag
• sales/sales management
• humanitarian work in war zones
• insurance and financial services
• interpreter
• cross-cultural communication trainer
• web stuff: WP theme design; custom WP

p.s. I didn't include temporary jobs that lasted only a few months
p.p.s. The list above "happened" while I officially lived in 3 different countries on two continents, although the jobs were located in more than 3 countries...

I still work full time in my slavery job - but hope to get out.

At the moment im an IT technician - I have hated working for other people now since my first ever full time day (passive income - im working at you !)

I have training as, of all things, a Fiction Writer. *Cough*. That led to teaching English at Universities but I am kind of an awful teacher of subjective stuff like English...I think I could have been a good math teacher though. Anyways, from there I worked in a library, then a state revenue office, and then finally bounced onto the Internet. I'm primarily a web designer but more purely IM projects are always cropping up in my life, there are so many opportunities and small cracks of knowledge to peer into and see what you might be able to create for profit...that type of creativity suits the writer in me, lol...

I was a manager in retail . Useful in communicating I guess lol

I am an Electronic Engineer managing the design of Navigation Computers.

I started out as a restaurant manager and did very well, but got tired of living the rat race so I decided to something about it and spent about 3 years doing the whole buy this, buy that deal. I then realized that value given to the marketplace was what I needed to accumulate. SO as time passed I quit my job of 15 years in March and on my way to a multiple six figure lifestyle as we speak! Rock on warriors!
Jermaine "Lead Monster" Steele

I graduated as a Graphic Designer right in the middle of the last recession (1991) so joined my mom working at an old folk's home. Many jobs later in the same field I am now in social work- and not really enjoying it as I am not really comfortable with dealing with people face to face! I'm a hermit at heart!

Hence the reason I am in IM... to replace my income, leave my job and deal with people a little more anonymously...

I currently work for a fortune 500 company at home doing sales/customer service.

I'm mlmers.. offline mlmers. . my team made like $60,000 in gross sales in 1 year I think,,, but then I stopped doing that and in the future I'd like to have some more fun doing that business...

I was your local neightborhood Pizza Delivery boy!

Can't say it was all bad though. Met a lot of girls on delivery, and got to drink free beer all the time.

But still, I was workin' for the man, and it was horrible.

A great learning experience to say the least.

I was a Sales/Marketing Manager for over 10 years.
Looking to go full time IM in 18 months.

Yes, I was a Special Education teacher for 10 years... Loved my job but could not make ends meet as a single mother of 4. After years of struggling in IM, I made it with the help, guidance and patience of my business partner, Frank Jones.

My previous professions . . . many and various

I chose IM because it's the easiest, quickest, and cheapest way to build my financial freedom. Things that help me in IM include the variety of my previous experience, my ability with data processing and a bit of programming which make it easy for me to implement fairly complex systems in terms of data, research etc. and automate some of the things which I need to do.

Chris

I believe teachers have a great advantage in the IM world considering they love teaching others and communicating the information effectively.

I was a full time registered nurse here in Canada. I still am because I still have my practice permit, although it will be expiring soon I'm a full time internet marketer now and I'm loving it! Good luck on your journey to becoming a full-time IMer! ^_^

BA in accounting, Security guard for 8 plus years, eBay seller, and currently mortgage banker in one of the major banks. Still learning IM and its overwhelming but i know some way if i dig further and spend more time, Success wont be far in IM.

IT Student. After grad i searched for jobs but could not find a worthy one until i met IM and never looked back

Hi,

I was a Photographer (previously to the digital era). In 1994 I purchased a PC to retouch my Photographs. It was so slow... :-). Well, I got a bit disappointed with the possibilities of PCs at that time but I always loved computers and technology (since the '80s). I started to play Doom and to create levels for that game. Then I learned a bit of MS-DOS, about Hardware, then Windows 3, then...

So I started to learn and well, still learning every day.

I was an senior developer in an Internet marketing company.

I worked with both several top gurus and many newbies from various areas like Internet marketers, business owners, doctors, musicians, real estate agents, writers and of course teachers

What I found was teachers were mostly generous and good at explaining what they want. Whereas there were people from certain areas commonly very (I mean VERY) picky and they usually encrypted their messages so we always had to decrypt it.

I was a Basketball Professional before I became an internet marketer .

I can hardly remember the work I did before internet marketing, which I'm doing for so many years now for many many websites in different promotional methods.
In between I love doing unrelated work to remind myself that there is a whole world out there beyond google SERPs and conversions. Those gigs are related to teaching and workshops on a few subjects.

I owned a number of offline businesses

I was a manufacturing technician for a multinational company.. Don't miss it at all!

I was a GM in a holiday tour company for 7 years It was a fun job but $$ was bad...

I got into IM about 6 months after graduation, til then i didnt do nothing.

My sig says it all I've been competing all over the world and I quit my profession when I get married. That was 2 years ago. Then I focused on my local business and mentoring to uprising gamers.

1 year and 8 months ago I discovered SEO when I started a website, a community for gamers. I learn Google Adsense and luckily after 6 month I earn decent income. More than a pro gamer earns per month.

A banker ( accountant) Now a Seo Expert and marketer. Wanted to spend more time with family.

I was a nurse before I got burned out at that. Now I am using all my health and medical knowledge to parlay that into freelance writing and internet marketing. It's a huge niche!

Lynda

I was in consulting with a focus on data mining and analytics.

LOL - What an odd lot we are!

I wanted to be an actress and a recording artist, so I've had a lot of jobs. I've been writing since I was little. I've worked for a newspaper as the circulation secretary, I've waitressed, once as a pinchable-singing-serving wench (OUCH!), short order cook, I've pumped gas, I co-pastored 6 churches, been a professional singer, secretary.... I worked in the financial industry for 8 years, brief stint selling insurance, and now I'm free! Prayerfully this will pay the bills!

Happy New Year! Paulette

I worked in a University Undergraduate Admissions Office answering applicant's email questions. At the same time, I started freelance writing part-time. Once I snagged a column and regular work, I became a full time freelancer for about eight years. Oh yeah, I have some real estate investing thrown in there as well. I'm just staring to learn the ends and outs of affiliate marketing.

I also think you would be fab in IM as a teacher. Most teachers enjoy research, have patience, dedication and are open to new ideas. As long as you know when to stop researching and start experimenting, the sky is the limit.

Was producing videos for a tv channel. Quite a useful set of skills for the IM niche

I was, am and will continue to be a:

1. Musician (toured for 4 years) i play bass, guitar and drums - music is definitely my passion.
2. Import/Export wholesale, i still do it, i love it. I work with South America.

Now working on IM being my 3rd strong point, lol my life's "Triangle Offense"

Technical work, mostly in the security systems field. I also dabbled in IT for some time before finally quitting in 2007. I've been in IM since and loving every minute!

I was trading forex and now I also create and sell forex systems.

this is a lovely thread

I was and still am a guitarist and teaching has always been on my timetable. I dont think I'll ever stop playing the guitar as being a musician runs in my blood. It's like a disease!

I was a freelance video editor, but now I'm a Marketing Assistant.

Hopefully in the next year, I'll be a full time IM'er and Video Producer.

I started out as (and still am) a private music tutor - I teach various instruments. I only teach part time now as IM has taken over. I don't have the heart to just stop teaching music! I'll never stop teaching part time.

I was a corporate TQM trainer, quality engineer and Fortune-500 consultant for many years before going online fulltime in the late 90's. I also taught MBA courses at various universities. It was a very useful background for my business (I'm one of the world's top trading industry figures now).

Student, Web Design, and various other part time jobs. Been full time IM for awhile now and loving it. Do not miss having a boss to report to.

I'm a musician and recording-mixing-mastering engineer till now.I'm a chief engineer on a music production studio.I decided to doing IM since the music business is not good in my country,far more expense than revenue.My biggest dream is to have my own Record Label,but it need a lot of money.Hope i can reach that goal by doing IM
Wish me luck.

I managed a computer service and networking company.

Past professions:

I spent over 15 years in the legal field as a legal assistant and later as a billing & account manager for a major law firm;

several years were spent working with juvenile delinquents in the public and private sector;

then I ventured into IT as a technical writer before making my way online.

Iris

I was a full time student in high-school.

Oh my, how I hated the place!

i didnt have one. i would just play xbox all day

Interesting thread.

I was an army medic, then a paramedic, then a police radio dispatcher/911 calltaker.

Studied for a few years and got myself a BA in Risk Management - only to spend about two years working behind a bar before I found IM.

Hello everyone,

I was a construction worker.

i was an accountant

Hey Paula,

I was a teacher and then a principal. Retired at age 45 to work online!!

Both my parents were teachers. My dad was before he turned into a successful entrepreneur and my mom was a teacher until she retired. I'm not a teacher, but both my parents were. As for me, I am just a lowly architecture student

Ahhh this thread reminded me of my past.

I am 34 and started to work when was 20, first profession was cost accounting and inventory in father's weaving and manufacturing factory.

Life was really good back then, full day work with online chat sessions on IRC. PC gaming sessions during nights, every game console I had.

Got promoted year to year, life was really good. One day civil war happened when a leader got killed. Crazy politicial party workers burnt the entire industrial area to ashes.

We got our factory burnt too, insurance companies failed to pay the losses. Our buyers ran away without paying our bills. We suffered a lot, took me almost a year to get a job as "Business Development Manager" in a small marketing firm.

I was b2b marketing our range of products, learned new things, met new people. 2 years later found a good job as "Factory Manager" in a private limited company. Performed well but that factory shut down due to political destabilization in the country.

Now I am sitting at home full time, searching for a job for past 3 months or so. I have 3 kids and regular expense, trying to make a living from IM. But I am very new to this, learning and trying different plans to optimize my earnings.

IM is no good for beginners, it requires a lot of money in first years as capital investment. Which really sucks

I started internet marketing as a 12 year old student but now I am 15.

I was an assistant accountant and i had a really misearable life i must say!I was doing this job for more than 5 years.

I used to "count" profits and margins for other people's businesses.

Now i am counting my own!

Internet Marketing rocks!

Dimitris

From the start, I ran my own business and used my degree for my own profits.

I worked in customer services and compaints/HR for 5 years before i found my niche and interest in marketing

2009 was the last time I had a full time job , Retail, fixing shoes , cutting keys

Well, my day job is at a children's hospital, so IM is my version of moonlighting I suppose. This is definitely an interesting question to ask!

Student....Just dropped out and started my journey on IM and I am loving it

eBay PowerSeller, and I still am one, along with internet marketing!

Automotive marketing company - but i'm getting old and tired of the door to door routine - I need to use my skills and teach others - ONLINE!

I was a bartender/server working basically three jobs. I would bartend or serve for lunch and dinner, sneak an hour or so of IM in between, and try to get a few hours in on days off and at night as well.

I used to write for others just around the holidays for a bit of extra cash and after a couple years of writing around the holidays, I finally woke up. Now I write for others about 20 hours a week and put 20 hours a week in on my own websites. It is great to be free of the bartending and serving and I finally wake up with a smile on my face as I commute from my bed to my home office to work.

Benjamin Ehinger

A finance company where I sat in an office for 9 hours a day staring at a screen and had to ask permission for toilet breaks. I hated it!

I worked at a restaurant for a couple of years. Prior to that, high school.

My husband & I used to run our own mortgage & insurance business. Needless to say, the banking crisis of 2008 put paid to that!

I started working when I was 16. First job, Pizza Hut. Oh how I hated waiting on my friends on Friday nights after a football game!

From there, shoe sales, Taco Bell, Paralegal, Small Business Owner, Realtor, Leasing Agent, General Contractor, Custom Home Builder.

full time college dropout!!!


lol



no but really a full time student

I worked as a cook. I worked in an auto shop. I delivered pizzas.

Thankfully, I discovered IM and web design about 6 years ago and haven't looked back since.

Was Programmer , Am Programmer And Hopefully will be Programmer

A student, and that's going back a few years (maybe 2 dog's ages), studied Geology, but the company I started with roommates boomed, so never looked back

I'm still a college student back then. Starting out since 2007.

But on and off. Hopefully I'm getting more serious this time.

PHP developer for 7 years and i still do that, as i'm very new to IM and not making a living out of it yet :-)

College Dropout, playing poker online for couple of years.

I was a child and still am lol. Self employed is the way to go Only 16 but I make a lot more on here than I would making $10/hour working some ****ty retail job.

I was a medical doctor.

I worked as a Content Writer in an E-commerce Company.

I was a lawyer for 6 years.

Started a firm. Needed a website. Built a website and learned SEO.

Had more fun building and optimizing my firm's website than doing law. Built up the firm by getting quite a few clients from the internet. Discovered that I could actually make money publishing websites with affiliate marketing. Couldn't believe it. Knew it was the business model for me.

Quit law (retained my ticket though) in Nov. 2011, sold my firm, and now do affiliate marketing full time.

I was a Teacher and always be a Teacher. I can never quit my permanent job for it is my passion. Being an internet marketer is just my part time. I just like to learn everything about IM.

My most recent background before IM full time was Sales & Marketing in the food and beverage / event industry. I am thankful for having that experience as it helps greatly with my IM career. Especially with the aspects of IM that I bring offline to provide services for businesses. Before that I was a cook for 6 years !

Funny thing is, I would very much like to work with IM for a while and then scale it back and not retire, but minimize the IM while doing new 'offline' things. IM for me represents freedom to choose.

My profession before IM was Corporate Finance and Real Estate. They were both very profitable careers, but I couldn't stand the 9-5 jobs. I wanted to do something on my own. I wanted to have time for myself and do all the things I wanted to, but couldn't because of work. "You reap what you sow" has had an impact on how I go about IM. Cheers!

I did a little "freelance" work.

I'm a Systems Architect for a major gaming company. However, I find myself doing more and more website stuff during the day.

Dishwasher, Telemarketer, Ditch Digger, Bathroom Remodel, Direct Sales, Direct Sales Manager, Business Owner, Underwriter Auto Finance, Manage Car Dealership, Online Poker Player

Dishwasher, service industry, fast food restaurant manager, line cook, bartender, retail, taxi driver, gangster, giggilo, pimp, bricklayer, 411 operator, construction, government worker, student.

4 years ago I was a bartender with 1 semester of college left to graduate (economics)... started with IM and never graduated because I never saw myself applying for another job... so far, it seems like I made the right decision.

I had a lot of career before I became an internet marketer. let me enumerate:

- I was an IT Professional working on a Engineering firm.
- I also worked as a call center agent for 2 years.
- I also had Merchandiser experience when I was a teen.

After one of my friends told me that this new trend of online business is "going on" and I quickly hop aboard.. And then *PUFF*
I found myself working as an internet marketer..

My background is sales and marketing I was in advertising, I suppose there is a teaching aspect that went with the job.

I was in construction for 20 years building water, and wastewater, treatment plants. I was a project manager for the latter half of my career.

I loved what I did but always wanted to work for myself. I now do internet marketing full time. I love every minute of it, and love the fact I can work from anywhere.

Thanks for the topic, this is my first post on the Warrior Forum.

I was a Subway Sandwich artist in high school, a Radio On-Air personality at two different radio stations (one was a top 10 POP station in Washington DC) in college, a Technical Support Representative for an ISP right out of college, and a Marketing Manager for a satellite testing company after I finished my degree. During the whole time I was marketing online different products and learning along the way.

I've done marketing professionally for close to 20 years but admittedly, I was mainly a generalist wearing many hats from marketing director, convention planner (1,200+ people), copywriter, product creator, Website manager, advertising sales, membership management, etc. But the job market has moved towards placing more value on people that are experts with "specific skills" rather than a generalist that doesn't truly "master" any particular skill level.

Having realized that, I've focused my efforts over the past two years to mastering social media and am glad to say that it landed me a day-job with a web-development company managing their social media programs. While I don't get paid as much as I used to when I had senior-level marketing positions with national organizations, my hours are great, I get health benefits and most importantly - I get to play on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and monitor social media news sites like Mashable all day.

The knowledge and experience I've gained has been "invaluable" in applying it to my own Internet marketing activities and Websites.

keep movin'

buzz

I was a Railway Station Manager. Worked for RailCorp for 20 years.

Hugh

You all have inspiring stories that I loved reading

I've worked for a "media giant" for 20 years, and was in love with my job. I was 17 when I first started, and 37 when my job was killed due to the 2008 crisis. It was one long hard road from being the news reporting intern to the top as publishing director. It would be a novel lol

Anyways, I was lucky to be able to build my own business while managing a full time job. While I was producing and managing "their" special-interest magazines, I was also running my OWN network of special-interest (niche) sites. (You can't turn your back to your talents, I guess). Probably the smartest move I've ever made.

P.S. I have one wish for those who are working for other people (and hate it): I wish you have your own business one day.

Pizza Hut at 19 years old. When they did not want to improve my basic salary because I was not lunching with the social "click", I told them to **** up and never ever worked for anybody else than me.

That's 12 years ago.

Here in BC the teachers are on strike or in contract negotiations or whatever. I keep thinking that if they think being a teacher is that bad, and they want more money, then maybe they should get into internet marketing. Lots of teachers have.

I dropped out of High School and worked at McDonald's for a year. Then I quit and moved to Portland, OR (from Oregon coast) where I began working as an independent escort for the past 5+ years. Started freelance writing and IM in the past 1-2 years.